Written Answers Tuesday 1 September 2009

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many agricultural co-operatives currently operate in Scotland.

Richard Lochhead: Information on the number of agricultural co-operatives in Scotland is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. However, the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) is the key umbrella body for agricultural co-operatives in Scotland with 73 co-operative members. Further information about agricultural co-operatives can be found on the SAOS website:

  http://www.saos.co.uk/index.html.

Bees

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what it is doing to promote the Scottish honey industry.

Richard Lochhead: Assistance is available from the Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation Grant Scheme to support the honey processing sector. The range of assistance includes items of capital expenditure to develop new, and improve existing processing facilities, non-capital expenditure to support the wider development of food processing businesses such as market research and cooperation activity between food producers, food processors and third parties.

Environment

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25166 by Roseanna Cunningham on 17 July 2009, whether it considers Scottish Natural Heritage to be adequately resourced to offer management agreements that meet the requirements of section 29(3) of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.

Roseanna Cunningham: Yes.

Food Promotion

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support it has awarded to food co-operatives since 1 April 2008, broken down by individual award and co-operative involved.

Richard Lochhead: Since April 2008, £1.5 million has been awarded to organisations to support co-operative activity in the food sector. Details of these awards can be found at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Food-Industry/granttimetable/pmcgawards.

  Co-operatives have been supported by Community Food and Health Scotland (CFHS), which is funded by the Scottish Government. Financial support for co-operatives since 1 April 2008 is listed below:

  One small grant totalling £1,650 was awarded to Clydesdale communities market, for co-ops based in Rigside and Kirkmuirhill, from last year’s CFHS small grants scheme.

  This year a further seven groups have been awarded £14,799.72 in total:

  Community Food Initiatives North East - £3,594,

  East Lothian Roots and Fruits - £2,922.40,

  Edinburgh Community Food Initiative - £3,306.82,

  Out of the Blue, Edinburgh - £550,

  Pilton Community Health Project, Edinburgh - £1,447.50,

  SEAL Community Health Project, Glasgow - £1,475,

  Straiton Village Co-op, South Ayrshire - £1,504.

  An eighth small grant went to a family centre in Edinburgh, a part of which - £545 - was used to assist the establishment of a new food co-op.

  Twenty seven establishments have benefited in the past year from receiving the package of training and resources, at a total cost of around £10,000.

  Seven co-ops through Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership.

  Seven co-ops through West Lothian Food and Health Development.

  Four co-ops through Community Food Initiatives North East, Aberdeen.

  Two community markets through Healthy Valleys, South Lanarkshire.

  Two co-ops through North Glasgow Community Food Initiative.

  One co-op through East Lothian Roots and Fruits.

  One co-op through Pilton Community Health Project, Edinburgh.

  One co-op through East End Healthy living Centre, Glasgow.

  One co-op through Coalburn Miners Welfare, South Lanarkshire.

  One social enterprise retailer in Dumfries.

Fuel Poverty

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which 23 local authorities applied to be included in the Home Insulation Scheme.

Alex Neil: A proforma was issued to local authorities on 1 May inviting them to put forward proposals for a particular area or areas to benefit from the Home Insulation Scheme, either in 2009-10, or 2010-11. Details of the applications received are as follows:

  

Local Authority
Application Received for 2009-10 and/or 2010-11
Application Received for 2010-11 only
No Application Received


Aberdeen City
 
 
√


Aberdeenshire
√
 
 


Angus
√
 
 


Argyll and Bute
 
 
√


Clackmannanshire
√
 
 


Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
√
 
 


Dumfries and Galloway
 
√
 


Dundee City
√
 
 


East Ayrshire
 
 
√


East Dunbartonshire
√
 
 


East Lothian 
√
 
 


East Renfrewshire
 
 
√


Edinburgh City
√
 
 


Falkirk
 
√
 


Fife
√
 
 


Glasgow City
√
 
 


Highland
√
 
 


Inverclyde
√
 
 


Midlothian
√
 
 


Moray
 
 
√


North Ayrshire
 
 
√


North Lanarkshire
√
 
 


Orkney
√
 
 


Perth and Kinross
 
 
√


Renfrewshire
 
√
 


Scottish Borders
√
 
 


Shetland
√
 
 


South Ayrshire
 
√
 


South Lanarkshire
√
 
 


Stirling
√
 
 


West Dunbartonshire
 
 
√


West Lothian
 
 
√

Fuel Poverty

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures are being put in place to monitor the quality of the insulation measures under the Home Insulation Scheme announced in a press release of 30 July 2009.

Alex Neil: The Energy Saving Trust (EST) has been appointed as managing agent for the scheme and will work with delivery partners to ensure that the appropriate insulation measures are installed to a high standard. This will include the management of complaints and queries regarding the installations, and ensuring that the quality of the measures installed conform to the standards required under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT).

  Under CERT, energy suppliers are required to carry out technical monitoring of 5% of professionally installed insulation and heating measures and carry out customer satisfaction monitoring on 1% of measures. The technical monitoring has to be carried out in an independent manner by a suitably qualified person and this will apply automatically to the CERT measures installed under the Home Insulation Scheme (HIS). In addition, the Energy Saving Trust will be carrying out 5% customer satisfaction monitoring on HIS clients.

  There will therefore be two layers of monitoring considering both the technical and customer satisfaction aspects of the scheme. Monthly reports will also be provided to the Scottish Government and Fuel Poverty Forum on a range of outcomes under HIS including the measures installed and the numbers of complaints received.

Fuel Poverty

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the most recent meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum took place.

Alex Neil: The most recent meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum took place on 7 July 2009.

Fuel Poverty

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum will be made publicly available.

Alex Neil: The minutes of the 7 July meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum will be published on the Scottish Government website following approval of these minutes by members at the next meeting of the Forum on 27 October 2009.

Fuel Poverty

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the next meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum will take place.

Alex Neil: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-25600 on 16 July 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Fuel Poverty

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria were employed in selecting areas to benefit from the £15 million Home Insulation Scheme.

Alex Neil: Seven criteria for area selection were agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), following a joint COSLA-Scottish Government workshop for local authorities on 28 April. Local authorities attending this joint session contributed to discussion which helped shape the agreed criteria. Local authorities were asked, in their bids, to provide information relating to their proposed areas against the selection criteria. To assist in the provision of such information, sources of available data such as the Energy Saving Scotland advice network were suggested to local authorities. The full list of criteria used was as follows:

  Criteria A: Levels of carbon emissions in an area/neighbourhood.

  Criteria B: Levels of fuel poverty in an area/neighbourhood.

  Criteria C: Numbers of dwellings that can be treated with loft insulation and cavity fill.

  Criteria D: Potential for complementary funding from other sources.

  Criteria E: Appropriate mix of geographical areas.

  Criteria F: Ability to deliver within the prescribed timescale.

  Criteria G: Mechanisms for community engagement.

Fuel Poverty

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how fuel poverty rates in the Duddingston and Craigentinny areas of Edinburgh, which were selected to benefit from the Home Insulation Scheme, compare with fuel poverty rates in the Granton, Pilton and Muirhouse areas.

Alex Neil: The Scottish Government does not hold information on fuel poverty rates at the local level, such as Duddingston and Granton. The Scottish House Condition Survey provides fuel poverty rates disaggregated as far as local authority level; below this the figures are not statistically robust.

  The areas considered by the Scottish Government for inclusion in the Home Insulation Scheme were selected by local councils. In the City of Edinburgh Council’s case, the areas put forward for consideration for 2009-10 were Craigentinny and Duddingston. It was recognised that data for some of the selection criteria agreed for the scheme was incomplete across Scotland at the appropriately disaggregated level. The Edinburgh bid included data indicative of fuel poverty levels in Craigentinny and Duddingston taken from a variety of sources. This included data from the home energy efficiency database, TADEA, a not-for-profit energy advice company, and information from relevant datazones identifying areas of low income considered to be most at risk of fuel poverty. Other relevant sources open to local councils included local housing or fuel poverty strategies, or data from the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre network.

Fuel Poverty

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum Equalities Working Group will be made publicly available.

Alex Neil: The minutes of the most recent meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum’s Equalities Working Group will be published on the Scottish Government website with the minutes of the forum’s 7 July meeting. The minutes of that meeting will be published after they are approved by members at the next forum meeting in October.

Health

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, codes (a) Y60.0, (b) Y61.0, (c) Y62.0, (d) Y65.2, (e) T81.2 and (f) T81.5 have occurred in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: A detailed response to this question is available from the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 48993).

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates it has made of the number of new affordable homes for rent required in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13.

Alex Neil: Estimates for those specific years have not been made. However, the most recent update of Professor Glen Bramley’s model of affordable housing need was published in November 2006 and offered five-yearly assessments to 2021 of housing need and affordability at local authority, and housing market area levels based on data from 2005.

  In many cases, Bramley’s estimates differ from the housing needs assessments undertaken for individual local authorities. This is due to the fact that local authority housing needs assessments vary in terms of coverage, time series and methodology. While it is not possible to model national affordable housing need with complete precision, the Scottish Government published new guidance for local authorities in early 2008 which provides a step-by-step approach to assessing housing need and demand across all tenures. Data from these assessments is expected from early 2010.

  The Scottish Government is currently considering how the Bramley model of affordable housing need could be updated in light of the significant changes in the economic climate.

Housing

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25911 by Alex Neil on 3 August 2009, what action is being taken following the publication of the Inclusion Scotland report, Freedom of Information research into accessible housing for disabled people in Scotland , published in June 2009, which suggested that North Lanarkshire Council held no information on how many disabled people were involved in setting the priorities of its Local Housing Strategy.

Alex Neil: Scottish Government officials are providing guidance to North Lanarkshire Council in the development of its new Local Housing Strategy, due in 2011. The latest guidance, published jointly by the Scottish Government and COSLA, highlights the statutory requirements made in the 2001 Housing (Scotland) Act to consult on proposed Local Housing Strategies and reminds local authorities of their public duty in relation to disability, race and gender in this regard.

Human Trafficking

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources have been made available for services to support victims of human trafficking.

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources have been made available for services to support women who have suffered sexual exploitation as a result of human trafficking.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government has awarded grants of almost £75,900 in 2007-08 and £70,950 in 2008-09 to the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA), to provide support to women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation.

  In 2008-09, the Scottish Government set aside £20,000 to recompense local authorities for any costs incurred by them in supporting adult victims of trafficking, apart from support for women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, who were covered by the grant awarded to TARA.

  For 2009-10, the Scottish Government has entered into an agreement with Migrant Helpline, which will provide support to adult victims of human trafficking, other than women trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation; funding is called down on a case-by-case basis.

  Information on resources provided by other organisations, such as the support of child victims of trafficking by local authorities, is not held centrally.

Justice

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-25679 by Kenny MacAskill on 5 August 2009, what is being done to recall offenders not yet returned to custody from (a)1999, (b) 2003, (c) 2004, (d) 2005, (e) 2006, (f) 2008 and (g) 2009.

Kenny MacAskill: I refer the Member to the answer to question S3W-26068 on 6 August 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Justice

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what purpose the Cabinet Secretary for Justice met convicted murderer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in HMP Greenock on 5 August 2009 and whether he intends to visit any other convicted murderers in custody with appeals pending.

Kenny MacAskill: I met Mr Al Megrahi at his request on 5 August as part of my consideration of the application made by the Libyan Government for transfer under the prisoner transfer agreement between the UK and Libyan Governments. This follows the commitment given by Jack Straw MP, Secretary of State for Justice, that in cases where applications for transfer were not submitted personally by the prisoner, the prisoner must be given the opportunity to make representations. Mr Al Megrahi had the opportunity to make representations and he chose to do so in person. Therefore, I was duty bound to receive his representations. I accordingly met him.

  The meeting was of no relevance to the appeal. Should future applications be made under this or other prisoner transfer agreements, similar meetings could well take place and for the same reason.

Justice

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Lord Advocate and First Minister were consulted prior to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice visiting convicted murderer Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in HMP Greenock on 5 August 2009 and what was the nature of any advice or opinion

Kenny MacAskill: I explained in the answer to question S3W-24638 on 9 June 2009 the process that I intended to follow in considering the application for transfer of Mr Al Megrahi under the prisoner transfer agreement. It was not necessary for me to consult the Lord Advocate or First Minister.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Justice

Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is given to Justice ministers in relation to the release of prisoners on compassionate grounds.

Kenny MacAskill: Compassionate release is governed by section 3 of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993, which gives the Scottish ministers power to release on licence a person serving a sentence of imprisonment if satisfied that there are compassionate grounds justifying such release.

  The process is set out in Scottish Prison Service circular 21A/05, issued in 2005.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend its Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) guidance to ensure that MAPPA meetings always consider a full analysis of risk of serious harm.

Kenny MacAskill: The current version of MAPPA guidance (version 4), which issued in April 2008, provides detailed advice on the need to consider risk of serious harm. Indeed Annex E of this guidance - Risk Assessment and Management - which was produced by the Risk Management Authority and the Scottish Government’s Effective Practice Unit, offers a specific model of the risk assessment process and its link to decision making in MAPPA. Notwithstanding, this guidance is subject to continual monitoring and review in light of developments in the law and in policy and practice, and is currently being amended to take account of the findings and recommendations contained in the joint report by the Social Work Inspection Agency, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland and HM Inspectorate of Prisons on the inspection of the management of high risk offenders.

Justice

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide succinct, plain and unambiguous practical guidance for managers and practitioners on the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) process.

Kenny MacAskill: The latest version of MAPPA guidance (version 4), which issued on April 2008, is subject to a rolling programme of revision to take account of new legislation and changes in policy and practice. This guidance will also be amended to take cognisance of the findings of the recent multi-agency inspection report, Assessing and managing offenders who present a high risk of serious harm 2009,  relative to the MAPPA process .

Prison Service

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the prison officer to prisoner ratio has been for each prison in each year since 2000.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested is given in the following table.

  Prisoner to Prison Officer Ratios

  

Establishment
Years


2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


Aberdeen
0.53
0.49
0.45
0.41
0.42
0.38
0.38
0.38


Barlinnie
0.38
0.35
0.36
0.36
0.31
0.35
0.35
0.40


Cornton Vale
0.78
0.66
0.71
0.63
0.52
0.53
0.53
0.47


Dumfries
0.81
0.68
0.55
0.48
0.46
0.50
0.50
0.49


Edinburgh
0.48
0.43
0.43
0.40
0.37
0.36
0.36
0.36


Glenochil
0.56
0.56
0.54
0.51
0.57
0.54
0.39
0.39


Greenock
0.39
0.39
0.41
0.39
0.41
0.40
0.40
0.48


Inverness
0.54
0.51
0.47
0.43
0.47
0.45
0.45
0.52


Low Moss
0.37
0.40
0.39
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.00
0.00


Open Estate
0.34
0.31
0.27
0.26
0.19
0.23
0.25
0.22


Perth
0.56
0.51
0.40
0.37
0.58
0.48
0.37
0.37


Peterhead
0.48
0.50
0.45
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44
0.44


Polmont
0.52
0.51
0.47
0.38
0.37
0.41
0.38
0.37


Shotts
0.54
0.54
0.58
0.48
0.50
0.49
0.49
0.47


Total
0.49
0.47
0.44
0.41
0.41
0.41
0.39
0.39

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S3W-25087 by Kenny MacAskill on 15 July 2009, whether the Cabinet Secretary for Justice will ask Mr Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to answer the question as lodged.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes we believe the interventions are appropriate.

Prison Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to address the health needs of offenders aged over 50 in prison.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  All prisoners have health care screening on admission into custody and have access to doctors, nurses and the wider health care team to address any emerging health care needs during their time in prison. All care is based on individualised health care need and age is no barrier to accessing treatment and the management of life-long conditions.

  In addition, the SPS provides health and lifestyle promotion, including the provision of well man and well women clinics across our prisons. SPS is also planning the introduction of a Keep Well community lifestyle screening programme to older prisoners, which will provide a specific additional health assessment to improve the early identification and targeting of prisoners at particular risk of preventable serious ill-health, continuing their care through a prison sentence and afterwards in the community.

Prison Service

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve continuity of support for female prisoners in addressing their offending behaviour after release into the community.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government is working with COSLA and other agencies within the framework of "Protecting Scotland’s Communities, Fair, Fast and Flexible Justice" to design criminal justice services which meet the specific needs of all offenders. I undertook, during my appearance at the Equal Opportunities meeting on 23 June 2009, to ensure that the Gender Equality Duty was applied to this work, which means that issues around delivery of appropriate services and continuity of support for female prisoners after release into the community is undertaken in a coherent and joined-up way.

  The community justice authorities are also working locally to strengthen the links between local authorities and other public and voluntary services to improve continuity of support for female prisoners in addressing their offending behaviour following release. One example of this is the mentoring project service being piloted for women offenders in the south west Scotland community justice authority for women subject to community penalties or on release from prison.

Regeneration

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason communities in the Scottish Borders did not get a larger share of the first round of funding from the Town Centre Regeneration Fund.

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason funding applications from the Scottish Borders to the Town Centre Regeneration Fund were not more successful.

Alex Neil: I can confirm that all applications were subject to the same four stage assessment process: an initial sift to check eligibility, scoring against key assessment criteria for the fund, consideration of the ranked order by an independent advisory panel before final deliberation by myself and ministerial colleagues. Our decisions were guided by the extent to which projects demonstrated that they met the aims of the fund, whilst taking as much account of geographic spread as was possible.

  The assessment process is detailed in full on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/town-centres/tcrf/FeedbackFAQs.

Regeneration

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the same criteria will be used for allocating money in the second round of applications to the Town Centre Regeneration Fund as were used in the first round.

Alex Neil: I can confirm that the same criteria will apply. Further details are available via the attached link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/town-centres/tcrf/FeedbackFAQs.

Regeneration

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether unsuccessful applicants for the first round of the Town Centre Regeneration Fund will be offered advice on where their applications failed and, if so, whether this advice will be available before the deadline for submission of applications for the second round.

Alex Neil: I can confirm that letters were issued to all unsuccessful applicants on 5 August, which offered feedback to candidates on their application. Advice was offered both on areas of relative weakness in applications and on the process by which allocations were decided.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has undertaken to determine the volume and proportion of food from (a) supermarkets, (b) households, (c) restaurants and other eating establishments and (d) other sources that will become food waste in any given year.

Richard Lochhead: The Waste and Resources Action Programme have undertaken a UK study on the amount of household food waste. This work was published in July 2008 and can be found at:

  http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/case_studies_research/report_the_food_we.html.

  The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) carried out National Best Practice Projects on fish waste and on food preparation and processing waste – raw meat and fish. These can be found at:

  http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_publications/national_best_practice_project.aspx.

  Business waste surveys carried out by SEPA have quantified food waste arisings by economic sector. These surveys can be found at:

  http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/commercial__industrial_waste/business_waste_surveys.aspx.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the volume and proportion of food waste from (a) supermarkets, (b) households, (c) restaurants and other eating establishments and (d) other sources.

Richard Lochhead: We are taking a variety of steps to reduce food waste.

  For supermarkets, the Courtauld Commitment, run by the Waste and Resources Action Programme, aims to reduce food waste, as well as unnecessary packaging. More information on the Courtauld Commitment can be found at http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/courtauld_commitment/index.html.

  For households, we support Waste Aware Scotland’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign, www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk, which provides advice on how household food waste can be reduced through planning purchasing decisions, storing food in the correct way and not cooking too much. In addition, six trials to collect food waste from households for composting were funded by the Scottish Government. The trials found that 30% of people participating in the trials indicated that they had made changes to reduce the amount of food waste produced by their households in the first place.

  For commercial premises, Envirowise Scotland, provides advice to business on reducing waste, including food waste:

  http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/scotland/Sectors/Food-and-drink.html.

  The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme Scotland (NISP Scotland), identifies residual materials from industry that can be used as an alternative to raw materials for other organisations or used in any other viable alternative to going to landfill http://www.nisp.org.uk/scotland.aspx.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set with regard to reducing the volume and proportion of food waste from (a) supermarkets, (b) households, (c) restaurants and other eating establishments and (d) other sources.

Richard Lochhead: The current Courtauld Commitment with retailers has a specific target to help reduce the amount of food householders across the UK throw away by 155,000 tonnes by 2010, against a 2008 baseline. We do not have any other specific targets to reduce food waste at this moment in time. The Waste and Resources Action Programme are leading work to develop a further Courtauld commitment with retailers, to go beyond 2010.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) what progress has been made toward achieving its targets with regard to reducing the volume and proportion of food waste from (i) supermarkets, (ii) households, (iii) restaurants and other eating establishments and (iv) other sources and (b) whether it is on track to meet these targets.

Richard Lochhead: We do not yet have information on progress in relation to the target on food waste in the Courtauld Commitment with retailers. This is our only specific target on food waste.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies it has undertaken to determine the volume and proportion of commercial waste discarded in Scotland.

Richard Lochhead: Data produced by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for the EU Waste Statistics Regulation provides information on all waste generated and managed in Scotland. This data can be found at:

  http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/waste_data_reports/waste_statistics_regulations.aspx.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the volume and proportion of commercial waste discarded in any given year.

Richard Lochhead: Both Envirowise Scotland, http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/scotland/Envirowise-in-Scotland.html , and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme Scotland (NISP Scotland), http://www.nisp.org.uk/scotland.aspx , are funded by the Scottish Government to reduce business waste. An independent study into the performance of Envirowise identified that in 2007 alone, Envirowise reduced commercial waste arisings in Scotland by over 70,000 tonnes and raw material use by over 14,000 tonnes. During 2008-09, NISP Scotland diverted 73,742 tonnes of industry materials from landfill.

  The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) also provides advice to business on waste reduction through their regulatory functions and has recently delivered a training programme to assist all field staff with the promotion of resource efficiency to all businesses they come into contact with. SEPA also contributes to the development of advice and guidance available through NetRegs, http://www.netregs.gov.uk, which contains a range of information about reducing, re-using and recycling business waste.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set regarding reducing the volume and proportion of commercial waste.

Richard Lochhead: There are no such targets in place at the moment. However, question 9 in Scotland’s draft Zero Waste Plan , currently out for consultation, asks whether the government should set any targets in relation to the prevention of commercial and industrial waste and construction and demolition waste:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/waste-and-pollution/Waste-1/wastestrategy.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made toward achieving its targets with regard to reducing the volume and proportion of commercial waste discarded and whether it is on track to meet these targets.

Richard Lochhead: There are no such targets in place at the moment.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make an estimate of the volume and proportion of commercial waste discarded in each of the last three years for which figures are available

Richard Lochhead: Tables 5a and 5b in Annex B to Scotland’s draft Zero Waste Plan , http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/waste-and-pollution/Waste-1/wastestrategy , published for consultation on 20 August 2009, provide information from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) on commercial waste arisings and management methods. SEPA also publish an annual Waste Data Digest, providing information on waste arisings and treatment methods:

  http://www.sepa.org.uk/waste/waste_data/waste_data_digest.aspx.